By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Katie Swan [WC] v Belinda Bencic [14] | H2H: First Meeting
- Liam Broady [WC] v Constant Lestienne | H2H: First Meeting
- Jodie Burrage [WC] v Caty McNally | H2H: First Meeting
- Jan Choinski [WC] v Dusan Lajovic | H2H: First Meeting
- Harriet Dart [WC] v Diane Parry | H2H: First Meeting
LONDON, ENGLAND – Katie Swan’s first round clash with Belinda Bencic highlights the day one action for the British wildcards at Wimbledon.
 |
Katie Swan [WC] v Belinda Bencic [14] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Katie Swan [WC] v Belinda Bencic [14] | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £55,000 |
| Third on Court No.2 (15:00 BST) | BBC Sport |
After a good start to the grass court season in Surbiton, where she reached the final, Katie Swan has struggled for wins in her last two events and recently retired in an ITF event in Italy. Swan will be hoping injuries won’t prevent her once again from bringing her best tennis at Wimbledon as she will look for an encouraging performance to build on for the rest of the season. Swan has only reached the second round once before at Wimbledon and would love nothing more than to achieve the feat again by securing one of the biggest wins of her career.
That’s because Swan will take on 14th seed Belinda Bencic in her opening match. Bencic’s all-court game filled with effortless power is seemingly perfect for grass court tennis but the Olympic champion has never reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and will look to change that this year. The Swiss’ preparations have been halted by injury as she has only played two events since Miami in March and enters the third Grand Slam of the year without playing a grass court match.
This would seemingly be the perfect time to play Bencic with the Swiss entering Wimbledon undercooked without any real idea how she is going to be physically. A strong performance from Swan would certainly guarantee this match going the distance but Bencic’s overall quality should be too strong for the Brit in this contest.
Prediction: Bencic in three sets.
Liam Broady [WC] v Constant Lestienne | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Liam Broady [WC] v Constant Lestienne | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £55,000 |
| Second on Court 15 (12:30 BST) | BBC Sport |
There have been some encouraging performances from Liam Broady over the grass court season even if the Brit would have been disappointed to not have converted those performances into wins. Now Broady will look to recreate his success from last year where he reached the third round as he looks to go closer to a place in the world’s top 100.
In his opening match Broady will face Frenchman Constant Lestienne who hasn’t had the best year this season. The Frenchman entered Mallorca last week on an 11 match losing streak which started in February. Although there have been encouraging performances ultimately Lestienne has come up short in his bid for wins. So Lestienne would have been relieved to have beaten Jason Kubler last week as he can now start from fresh at Wimbledon and rebuild his season.
Broady’s grass court familiarity and confidence makes him slight favourite heading into this match but don’t underestimate Lestienne who has the quality to give any player a tough time on his day.
Prediction: Broady in four sets.
Jodie Burrage [WC] v Caty McNally | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Jodie Burrage [WC] v Caty McNally | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £55,000 |
| Third on No.3 Court (15:00 BST) | BBC Sport |
Jodie Burrage has had a confidence-boosting grass court season with the Brit reaching her first WTA singles final in Nottingham where she just came up short against Katie Boulter. The 24 year-old has secured some big wins over the last couple of years on grass but has never really translated that form into results at Wimbledon. Now Burrage will hope this year will be the year that changes as she looks to reduced Boulter’s lead at the top of the race to become British number one.
Next for Burrage is talented American Caty McNally who had a great Juniors career but hasn’t really executed that potential onto the main tour just yet. The American has struggled for consistent wins since reaching the semi-finals in Merida in February and McNally will hope Wimbledon can be the tournament where that changes for her. McNally will be hoping fortunes change soon as the American hard court swing approaches.
This will be a tough match for both players and one that is very hard to call but if Burrage continues her streak of being nervous and passive at Wimbledon then it’s very hard to see how she wins this match.
Prediction: Burrage in three sets.
 |
Jan Choinski [WC] v Dusan Lajovic | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Jan Choinski [WC] v Dusan Lajovic | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £55,000 |
| Third on Court 17 (14:00 BST) | BBC Sport |
Jan Choinski has had an encouraging season on the ITF and challenger tour but the Brit hasn’t had the desired results on grass so far. Choinski will look to build on positive moments in matches against Lorenzo Musetti and Broady as the 27 year-old now is looking to make a big impression on his Wimbledon debut.
First up for Choinski is Serbian Dusan Lajovic who has had another rollercoaster season. The highs have been very high for Lajovic which included a title in Banja Luka but the lows have been very low as there has been no consistency or stability for the Serb to build on. Now Lajovic will look to regain the momentum at a tournament where he has failed to reach the third round.
Choinski has the skills to frustrate Lajovic and force errors from the Serb’s game but ultimately Lajovic should have too much quality and experience to win this match.
Prediction: Lajovic in four sets.
Harriet Dart [WC] v Diane Parry | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Harriet Dart [WC] v Diane Parry | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £55,000 |
| First on Court 12 (11:00 BST) | BBC Sport |
Harriet Dart has had consistent results in preparation for the grass court season having beaten Anhelina Kalinina on two separate occasions as well as defeating Burrage. Dart will be hoping that she can translate that form into Wimbledon as she has only won one match at SW19 since reaching the third round in 2019 as a deep run at SW19 could put her in contention to reclaim her British number one status.
First up for Dart is Diane Parry who picked lots of wins over the clay court season but often struggles on the grass courts. Parry had a successful Wimbledon last year reaching the third round but has only played one match in the build-up to Wimbledon as she looks to continue to rise up the rankings.
Dart will hope to maintain a consistent level throughout the match as often in the build-up to Wimbledon her form has been inconsistent throughout. Parry’s aggression will give Dart a tough test but ultimately the Brit’s resilience should prevail.
Prediction: Dart in three sets.
How to Watch/Follow Wimbledon 2023
| TV | Across BBC Channels & Red Button |
| Live Stream | BBC Sport |
 Sign up to PBLC for free to support ongoing contributions from Britwatch Sports |
| Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
|---|---|
| Soundcloud | |
| YouTube | |
| We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website | |